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February 21, 2012

Top 9 Most Disliked U.S. Companies: 2012

AdvisorOne focuses on the bottom nine in a Harris poll ranking consumers’ opinion of the reputation of America’s 60 most visible companies

Find out why Rubert Murdoch's News Corp. entered the bottom of the poll for the first time. (Photo: AP)

Financial companies have been in bad odor since the onset of the 2008 crisis, and thus crowded the low rungs in Harris Interactive’s 13th annual reputation poll, which ranked consumers’ opinion of the reputation of the 60 most visible companies in the United States.

Four of the five biggest losses of reputation hit financial companies. The poll found that positive perceptions of the industry declined by five points after rising by six points in the 2011 study.

Financial companies’ reputation contrasted sharply with that of technology and retail companies, which were perceived as helping the American economy. Kraft Foods, for example, saw its reputation burnished in the current study; Harris said the company ranked among the “perennial reputation elite,” and was one of the Top 8 Favorite U.S. Companies.

The Harris Poll Reputation Quotient measures six areas that make up reputation and affect consumer behavior: social responsibility, emotional appeal, financial performance, products and services, vision and leadership, and workplace environment.

An RQ score of 55–64 denotes a “poor” reputation, 50–54 “very poor” and below 50 “critical.” Companies with scores below 50 “risk remaining viable,” according to Harris. Among previous sub-50 RQ performers were Enron, Adelphia and WorldCom, all now defunct.

Scored 57.14. Rupert Murdoch’s conglomerate is new to the RQ study; it was not ranked in last year’s study, which came out before the hacking scandal in Britain erupted into public view. Among the worst aspects of the scandal included a News Corp. paper being affiliated with the hacking of a young murder victim's voicemails.

Scored 53.5, an improvement over last year, when the oil producer was in “critical” territory, second from the bottom. Harris said BP was one of three companies in “reputation rehab,” having gained strongly in social responsibility and emotional appeal.